Heart's Day
by EndlessExplorer
Summary: Valentine's Fluff I made up for the occasion. AelaXDovahkiin


**_16_** ** _th_** ** _of Sun's Dawn. Heart's Day, The Pale, Skyrim._**

Aela pulled the covers up higher on herself. Despite her being a hardened shieldmaiden, sometimes the familiar Skyrim climate was just too cold. The figure beside her shifted and twisted and before she knew it, Luin had his arms wrapped tight around her midriff. Luin was always warm blooded and Aela found herself embracing the heat that their close contact allowed. Aela stretched as much as she could and listening closely, she could hear the soft tune of a lute being played downstairs. Aela tried to escape her husband's clutches, but any attempt she made, just caused the grip Luin had on her to tighten. While some days Aela would humour Luin and his antics, this morning Aela desperately had to relieve her now aching bladder and seeing no other option, Aela slapped Luin across the face. The resounding slap travelled throughout Heljarchen Hall and it caused Luin to flail his arms, eventually causing him to fall out of the bed. Lydia ran upstairs, wielding her daedric longsword in fear of her lord and lady being attacked, but sheathed her weapon upon realising that it was simply her lady attacking her lord.

Aela stood up and headed for the waste pit while Luin lay groaning on the floor. Slowly standing, Luin stretched and gave a sigh of relief after hearing his spine pop. While Luin was putting on his heavy furs, Lydia danced around him, replacing the bed furs and picking up anything that fell from Luin's flailing limbs. Luin thanked Lydia and headed downstairs to the large table that sat in the centre of the main hall. It was packed from either end, full of meat, fruit, vegetables, and mead. Oriella stood by the armoury, playing a gentle tune on her lute. Aela had already taken her place at the table, beside their children Runa and Alesan. Runa was complimenting her mother on the style of braid that she had done, while Alesan was trying to cut his piece of Horker using the wooden blade that Luin had given him a while back. Luin was grateful for his family and would go to no end to protect them. He knew that Aela felt the same way, so he was never scared about his family being abducted or attacked. Runa had been kidnapped before by a measly band of bandits, and even though she isn't her daughter by blood, Aela had used Hircine's gift to rescue her. Luin still had nightmares over the state that she had left the raiders in.

As Alesan continued to whack the tough Horker with his sword, Luin gave a hearty laugh and plucked the sword from his son's grasp. Alesan turned on his seat and looked at his father, his cheeks having flushed pink due to physical exertion. Luin pulled a dagger from his belt and sliced through the meat effortlessly. It had been so easy in fact, that Luin had sliced through the plate also. Aela rolled her eyes as Runa placed her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Alesan soon joined in on the humour that his sister found in the death stare that Aela was giving Luin. Luin stood up and sheathed the dagger. Standing behind Aela, Luin leaned down and whispered his apology before placing a kiss behind Aela's ear. Luin's heavy beard tickled Aela's face and Luin gave an audible sigh of relief when Aela laughed. It was a beautiful sound that the world sorely lacked. Talking his own seat beside Aela, Luin started to eat just as Lydia came in with some correspondence that a courier had dropped off. Handing them to Luin, Lydia took her own place at the table and started eating.

Luin flipped through the letters, finally landing on one that had the symbol of the Companions stamped on the front. Truth be told, it was a fake letter that Luin had given Lydia to place within the pile, but Aela had no clue. Without emotion, Luin broke the wax seal and read the letter. Afterwards, Luin passed the letter to Aela who read it and stood up, following Luin to the armoury to retrieve their weapons. Runa and Alesan leapt up from their seats, following their parents into the armoury. While both Luin and Aela were planning on teaching their children on how to fight, now they were still quite young, and so they were forbidden from entering the armoury. Alesan's eyes almost popped from his head at the sight of all the legendary weapons that were hanging from his father's racks. Runa ran over to Aela who had just finished fitting her armour. Placing a full quiver over her shoulder, Aela grabbed a Dragonbone bow from a rack and only then noticed Runa. Aela knelt and embraced Runa.

"No need to worry Runa. Your father and I will be back tomorrow morn. You and your brother won't even notice we're gone. And listen to Lydia. I'm certain that there won't be any trouble, but if there is, she'll protect you." Aela said. Runa nodded to her mother and returned the embrace. Luin turned to Alesan who was slowly shuffling towards Wuuthrad, the axe being the centre point of Luin's entire collection. Luin placed his hand on Alesan's shoulder, drawing his attention.

"The same goes for you little bear. If when your mother and I return, and we find out that either of you have misbehaved… well let's just say, may Talos have mercy on your soul as I'll personally deliver you to the doors of Soverngarde myself. In fact, as your mother can confirm, I've already been there." Luin warned. Seeing Alesan's eyes widen, Luin gave another hearty laugh as he followed Aela to the manor's front door.

"We shall be back tomorrow. Remember that Lydia's in charge!" Luin shouted as he pulled the door closed behind him.

The Pale was a cold region of Skyrim. Despite it being on the border with Whiterun, the region never seemed to benefit from its neighbours' warm spells. As Luin and Aela walked, Luin draped a heavy cloak over Aela's shoulders before putting one on himself. The road was quiet which allowed Luin and Aela to chat for a while until they reached a fork in the road. As Luin started walking away from Whiterun, Aela got confused.

"Where are you off to? Whiterun, and thus Jorvasskr, are that way…"

Upon seeing Luin's sly smirk, Aela put everything together and was ultimately surprised with herself that she allowed herself to fall for Luin's trick.

"Happy Heart's Day Aela. I just thought that you'd like to celebrate it this year away from the house. Away from Runa and Alesan, no matter how much we love them. Just you and me, like the old days." Luin suggested. Again, Aela mentally slapped herself for having forgotten what day it was. Luin and Aela never gave each other gifts on Heart's Day, but it was the one day a year where no matter what was going on, they'd spend the day together, as eternal partners, as man and wife.

"I'm sorry Luin, I forgot. I suppose that it would be nice to spend the day together. What did you have in mind?" Aela asked. It had now started to make sense why Luin had left the manor without his armour. Aela knew that he kept a spare suit in their quarters in Jorvasskr, but what would protect him on the journey there? Anyway, once Luin had taken his clothes off and stood before Aela in his underclothes, he explained.

"Somewhere in the tundra, I've asked Lydia to set up a camp in a cave. We are going to race there." Luin said, sprinting off into the forest. Aela took off after Luin, smiling and laughing as they tore through the forest together. This would be what awaited them together when they die. Running together for all eternity in Hircine's wild hunt. While Luin had visited Soverngarde, he had assured Aela that if they were together, he didn't care what plane of oblivion they landed on. As Aela ran, her natural lupine instincts kicked in, and slowly Aela took on her werewolf form. The trees blurred past as Aela ran off after Luin, her canine eyes searching for her husband. Eventually, Aela spots him, the darkness of his pelt helping him to blend into the shadows. Aela remembered how Luin once told her of how beautiful he thought her own scarlet pelt was. That he was attracted to it like a moth to a flame. It was a mutual feeling, with Aela getting lost in the beauty of his lupine fur. It reminded her of a starless night.

They found the cave and shifted back to their human forms. The smile on Luin's face was infectious and soon Aela couldn't stop herself from smiling back. Aela also noticed that Luin didn't bother to put his armour back on, deciding to stay in his undergarments. Aela did the same and followed Luin into the cave. Luin wasn't surprised to recognize the cave as Bloated Man's Grotto. Lydia always was perceptive. He'd have to remember to give her a raise. When Luin had been here as Hircine's champion, there had been a camp full of bloody corpses, that were now gone so Luin started building a firepit while Aela went in search of fresh meat. The fire was still in it's early stages when Aela returned with a fresh doe draped over her shoulder. Luin butchered the doe and set it to roast over the fire before he joined Aela on the ground. The sun was starting to set, and the sky had turned an elegant shade of pink. The sun illuminated the grotto and Luin had a hard time looking away from Aela. The sun had hit her hair in such a way as though it looked to be aflame. Aela was his partner, in this life and the next, and Luin thought himself the luckiest man in all Skyrim that she even thought to give him an invitation to Jorvasskr, all that time back. Luin pushed his face into Aela's hair, breathing deep to try and smell the forest off her. Familiar smells of maple and pine filled his nostrils and Luin found himself at peace. Tomorrow, someone in some hold may have need of the Dovahkiin, but for now, it was just Luin and Aela.

"Happy Heart's day, My Lady Huntress." Luin whispered.

"Happy Heart's day, My Harbinger." Aela replied, pulling closer to Luin.


End file.
